Year Released: 1984 Notable Songs: “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”, “Careless Whisper”, “Freedom”, “Everything She Wants” Album MVP: “Careless Whisper” Why I Loved It: This title is about as symbolic to an 80s act as it can get, because boy did Wham ever “Make It Big” with this album. Staying on that symbolic word, … Read More
Year Released: 1987 Notable Songs: “I Want Your Sex”, “Faith”, “Hard Day”, “Father Figure”, “One More Try”, “Monkey”, “Kissing a Fool” Album MVP: “One More Try” Why I Loved It: During the mid-to-late George Michael was straight fire. With a black leather jacket, an earring and the memorable beard Michael stylistically became a heartthrob to … Read More
Year Released: 1983 Notable Songs: “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”, “Time After Time”, “She Bop”, “All Through the Night” “Money Changes Everything” Album MVP: “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” Why I Loved It: Cyndi Lauper is the Gwen Stefani of the 80’s — only far, far better. Whether they were happy-go-lucky jams like “Girls Just … Read More
Year Released: 1986 Notable Songs: “Live to Tell”, “Papa Don’t Preach”, “True Blue”, “Open Your Heart”, “La Isla Bonita” Album MVP: “Papa Don’t Preach” Why I Loved It: When I first started putting together this countdown I was pretty confident “Like a Virgin” would be my highest ranking Madonna album. Turns out I was wrong. … Read More
Year Released: 1986 Notable Songs: “What Have You Done for Me Lately”, “Nasty”, When I Think of You”, “Control”, “Let’s Wait Awhile”, “The Pleasure Principle” Album MVP: “Nasty” Why I Loved It: When it comes to vocals and funky beats to get down to, Control was nearly perfect. This was one of two Janet Jackson … Read More
Year Released: 1984 Notable Songs: “Jump”, “I’ll Wait”, “Panama”, “Hot for Teacher” Album MVP: “Jump” Why I Loved It: Admittedly I’m not a huge Van Halen fan on the whole, or at least I didn’t think I was, but this is Van Halen’s second album to make my countdown (Ou812 started things out at No. … Read More
Year Released: 1983 Notable Songs: “Tell Her About It”, “Uptown Girl”, “An Innocent Man”, “The Longest Time”, “Leave a Tender Moment Alone”, “Keeping the Faith”, “This Night” Album MVP: “Uptown Girl” Why I Loved It: I’m hoping I can sneak this selection past my wife, who is literally one of the biggest Billy Joel fans … Read More
Year Released: 1981 Notable Songs: “Who’s Crying Now”, “Don’t Stop Believing”, “Open Arms”, “Who’s Crying Now” Album MVP: “Open Arms” Why I Loved It: This is flat-out one of the best rock albums of the 80’s, if not all-time. Thanks to the Sopranos if you’re under 30 it’s almost automatic “Don’t Stop Believing” is the … Read More
Year Released: 1988 Notable Songs: “Don’t Be Cruel”, “My Prerogative”, “Roni”, “Every Little Step”, “Rock Wit’cha” Album MVP: “Don’t Be Cruel” Why I Loved It: With this album, Brown permanently ridded himself of the candy-pop/bubblegum perception that followed him around as a key member of New Edition in the early-to-mid 80’s. By the late 1980’s … Read More
Year Released: 1987 Notable Songs: “Only in My Dreams”, “Shake Your Love”, “Foolish Beat”, “Out of the Blue”, “Red Hot” Album MVP: “Foolish Beat” Why I Loved It: Don’t even come at with any bullshit if you’re not a Debbie Gibson fan. If you were around in the 80’s and didn’t have love for Ms. … Read More
